Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm

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Expert System (AI) is changing education while making discovering more accessible but likewise sparking debates on its impact.

Expert System (AI) is transforming education while making finding out more available but also stimulating disputes on its impact.


While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their knowing experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens scholastic stability, specifically with numerous students unable to safeguard their projects or provided works.


Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed disappointment over the growing reliance on AI-generated reactions amongst students stating a current experience he had.


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"I provided an assignment to my MBA students, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% submitted the precise very same answers. These trainees did not even know each other, but they all used the very same AI tool to generate their reactions," he stated.


He noted that this pattern prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is particularly worrying in part-time and distance knowing programs.


"AI is a severe obstacle when it comes to projects. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they just browse the web, produce answers, and send," he added.


Surprisingly, asteroidsathome.net some lecturers are likewise implicated of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both teachers and trainees turn to AI for benefit instead of intellectual rigor.


This argument raises important questions about the function of AI in scholastic stability and student advancement.


According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in January 2023, only one country had actually launched guidelines on generative AI as of July 2023.


Since December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million people using the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent every day all over the world.


Decline of scholastic rigor


University speakers are progressively worried about students sending AI-generated tasks without truly understanding the content.


Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his issues to Nairametrics about students increasingly counting on ChatGPT, forum.batman.gainedge.org just to battle with responding to fundamental concerns when tested.


"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit polished projects, however when asked standard questions, they go blank. It's frustrating since education has to do with discovering, not simply passing courses," he stated.


- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing variety of superior graduates can not be totally credited to AI however confessed that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.


"A top-notch student is a first-class trainee, AI or not, however that does not suggest they do not cheat. The benefits of AI might be peripheral, but it is making students dependent and less analytical," he stated.


- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various issue that some speakers themselves are guilty of the same practice.


"It's not simply students using AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course outlines, marking plans, and even test questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn use AI to generate answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine learning," he regreted.


Students' perspectives on usage


Students, on the other hand, say AI has improved their learning experience by making scholastic products more understandable and accessible.


- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has substantially assisted her knowing by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of lengthy texts.


"AI assisted me comprehend things more quickly, specifically when handling intricate topics," she described.


However, she remembered a circumstances when she utilized AI to send her project, higgledy-piggledy.xyz just for her speaker to instantly recognize that it was created by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad effect.


- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, firmly thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his exceptional grades to actively engaging by asking concerns and focusing on locations that speakers emphasize in class, as they are often reflected in examination concerns.


"It's all about being present, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he stated,


- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to sometimes copying directly from ChatGPT when facing several due dates.


"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I know I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the speakers don't get to check out them, however AI has also assisted me discover much faster."


Balancing AI's function in education


Experts think the service lies in AI literacy; teaching trainees and speakers how to utilize AI as a learning aid instead of a faster way.


- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the significance of a balanced method that keeps human participation while utilizing AI to improve discovering results.


"As we browse the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is important that we prioritise human agency in education. We need to make sure that AI improves, rather than changes, teachers' important function in forming young minds," he said


Concerns over AI in Learning


Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation specialist, attended to growing issues relating to the usage of synthetic intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible risks to the educational system.


- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, however, highlighted the requirement for care in its usage.

- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance amongst educators and schools towards incorporating AI tools in discovering environments. She recognized 2 primary reasons that AI tools are dissuaded in academic settings: security threats and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based upon user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of educators.


"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, discussing that AI doesn't cater to specific teaching techniques.


Plagiarism is another concern, as AI pulls from existing information, often without correct attribution


"A lot of individuals need to comprehend, like I said, this is data that has actually been trained on. It is not simply bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing information that some other people are fed into it, which in essence indicates that is another person's documents," she warned.


- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI advancement referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce information that was not accurate.


"Hallucination meant that it was drawing out info from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that info from you, it was going to make one up," she described.


She recommended "grounding" AI by offering it with specific information to prevent such mistakes.


Navigating AI in Education


Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the option, particularly when AI provides an opportunity to leapfrog standard educational techniques.


- She believes that regularly enhancing crucial information assists individuals remember and avoid making mistakes when faced with challenges.


"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform individuals the exact same thing over and over again, when they will make the errors, then they'll remember."


She also empasized the need for clear policies and procedures within schools, noting that numerous schools should deal with individuals and procedure aspects of this usage.


- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has resorted to in-class tasks and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.


"Now, I generally utilize assignments to ensure students supply initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing big classes makes this technique tough.


"If you set complicated questions, students won't be able to utilize AI to get direct answers," he discussed.


He stressed the need for universities to train speakers on crafting exam questions that AI can not easily solve while acknowledging that some lecturers battle to counter AI misuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some lecturers are analogue," he said.


- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, trade-britanica.trade focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, openness, accountability, wiki.myamens.com and personal privacy at its core.

- UNESCO in a report calls for the guideline of AI in education, advising organizations to investigate algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they satisfy ethical requirements, secure user information, and filter inappropriate material.

- It worries the need to assess the long-term impact of AI on crucial skills like believing and imagination while producing policies that line up with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO suggests carrying out age limitations for GenAI usage to secure more youthful trainees and safeguard susceptible groups.
- For governments, it encouraged adopting a coordinated nationwide technique to regulating GenAI, consisting of establishing oversight bodies and aligning regulations with existing data protection and personal privacy laws. It highlights evaluating AI threats, implementing more stringent rules for bphomesteading.com high-risk applications, bphomesteading.com and ensuring national information ownership.

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